title: Balancing work and family: effect of employment characteristics on breastfeeding.
abstract: This article describes an investigation of the effect of postpartum employment and occupational type on breastfeeding initiation and duration. Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. Postpartum employment status was classified as full-time, part-time, and not employed. Among postpartum workers, occupational type was classified as management, professional, service, sales, administrative, and "other." In adjusted analysis, professional women had a 20% greater likelihood of initiating breastfeeding than administrative workers (risk ratio [RR] 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.30). Full-time workers had a 10% lower likelihood of initiating breastfeeding than those not employed (RR 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82-0.97). Among breastfeeding initiators, full-time workers had a 19% lower likelihood of any breastfeeding beyond 6 months than those not employed (RR 0.81; 95% CI, 0.65-0.99). To improve breastfeeding initiation and duration in the United States, part-time options may be an effective solution for working mothers.
authors.affiliation: Georgia Department of Community Health, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. chogbuanu@dhr.state.ga.us
authors.forename: Chinelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ogbuanu
authors.forename: Saundra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Glover
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hussey
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049590:Postpartum Period; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult